Indian Air Force airlifts 488 passengers stranded in snow

7 Mar 2018 – The Indian Air Force (IAF) has rescued civilians stranded by the recent snow and cold in the Jammu region by airlifting 488 passengers from Udhampur to Leh, a public relations officer said.

Due to the recent snow and cold waves in the entire northern areas of Jammu and Kashmir, a lot of civilians of the Leh and Kargil sector were stranded in Jammu and Udhampur, he said.

The IAF operated its special aircraft IL-76, popularly known as Gajraj, to airlift the civilians.

The Indian Air Force airlifting 239 civilians on 6 Mar 2018 and 249 passengers on 7 March from Udhampur to Leh,” the officer said.

This makes a total of 955 stranded passengers that have been airlifted by the IAF to Leh from Udhampur-based IAF station this year.

On 27 Feb, 234 stranded passengers were airlifted by the Indian Air Force (IAF) from Udhampur district to Leh in the Ladakh region, and airlifted another 233 on 19 Feb.